Mumford & Sons / November 8

Since they formed in December 2007, the members of Mumford & Sons have shared a common purpose: to make music that matters, without taking themselves too seriously. Four young men from West London in their early twenties, they have fire in their bellies, romance in their hearts, and rapture in their masterful, melancholy voices. They are staunch friends - Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane - who bring their music to us with the passion and pride of an old-fashioned, much-cherished, family business. They create a gutsy, old-time sound that marries the magic of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the might of Kings Of Leon, and their incredible energy draws us in quickly to their circle of songs, to the warmth of their stories, and to their magical community of misty-eyed men.

Cadillac Sky:

The Texas band Cadillac Sky is on the rise. Its latest album, Letters in the Deep, was produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach; the disc's bluegrass-infused rock 'n' roll manages to incorporate delicate folk tendencies and the boisterousness of an old-fashioned tent revival. You can feel the honesty in the band's music, especially live.

King Charles:

You'd have thought someone would have used the name before, but they haven't. We've had Prince, even a US funk musician called Prince Charles, not to mention all the royal female permutations you can imagine – notably Queen and Princess – but no King Charles. Until now. This one has never engaged in a power struggle with Parliament (neither the English governing body nor George Clinton's funk mob) but he is getting rave notices for his psychedelic acoustica, and his wild hair has been getting pretty good reactions too. The term "wigga" has been dusted down and brought out of storage. We prefer "wasta". He's from west London, you know, so some might say "trustafarian"...